How to Win Friends and Inoculate People

The Navy’s new strategy for saving the world. In the U.S. Navy, floating hospital ships are curing the sick and healing the blind. It’s all part of the Pentagon’s plan for global domination.

For millions of people in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, the U.S. Navy no longer conjures up images of war games and nuclear submarines. Instead, the sight of American sailors means one thing: free medical care.

In recent years, the Navy has started dispatching dozens of hospital ships—some as big as shopping malls—to aid developing nations. The crews consist of doctors, nurses, engineers, pilots, volunteers, and even acupuncturists, all there to help. But as mental_floss reporter David Axe learned while visiting the Kearsarge ship in Nicaragua, the Nashville in Gabon, and the Comfort in Panama, these missions aren’t about altruism; they’re about winning friends and influencing nations.

Soft Power

The U.S. Navy has been in the medical business for decades, often setting sail in response to earthquakes or hurricanes. But until recently, these missions were for emergencies only, and not part of a bigger diplomatic strategy. It took the Iraq War to change that.

After years of failing to pacify Iraq with firepower, the Pentagon decided it needed to think outside the arsenal. The result was a new theory called "soft power."The idea is to send the military into potential conflict zones—along with other government agencies and civilian volunteers—years before any fighting breaks out. The troops hand out free medical care, aid local governments, and build roads and schools. Basically, they do anything they can to be of assistance.

By giving everyone a helping hand, soft-power programs hope to improve the United States’ image and leave a lasting, positive impression of America on the citizens of other nations. "It’s about influencing generations to come,"says Navy Commodore Frank Ponds.

Beginning in 2006, the Navy sent ships to places where conflicts were simmering. Then, in November 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made soft power official policy during a speech at Kansas State University. Now, it’s all the rage at the Pentagon. There is at least one major soft-power mission to Asia, Africa, and Latin America each year, meaning U.S. Navy ships are already becoming an increasingly common sight all across the world.

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Managing the Press

In some areas, the patients treated at these hospital ships have never seen a doctor before, so the Navy’s arrival can be an almost miraculous event. But if soft power sounds like all good news with no downside, there’s a reason. The Navy carefully manages the press coverage of its hospital ships in order to emphasize the positive. It’s all part of the strategy. For every person his doctors treated in 2008, Commodore Ponds says he wants 10 other people to hear about it. It’s no surprise that most Navy hospital ships sail with large numbers of reporters on board. In August 2008, Navy doctors performed eyelid surgery on an 11-year-old boy to remove a mysterious growth that had impaired his vision and made him an outcast in his Nicaraguan village. Of course, there was a journalist standing by to get a quote from him the moment he could see again. The boy reportedly said, "I can now read my textbooks... I am very happy."